


for the stars, the second time around

by moontaekoos



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Childhood Friends, I love hongjoong i swear, M/M, Reminiscing, Seonghwa is perfect, Weddings, i am once again romanticizing the stars, i wrote this all in one go forgive my mistakes, infuriatingly perfect, pls give this a chance, reception speeches, wedding planner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:40:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27102079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moontaekoos/pseuds/moontaekoos
Summary: Hongjoong and Seonghwa are planning a wedding. During the process, Hongjoong got reminded why he fell in love with Seonghwa.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 15
Kudos: 61





	for the stars, the second time around

**Author's Note:**

> here’s a little piece i wrote after being inactive for quite some time. i hope you like it, please let me know what you think!

Planning a wedding isn’t an easy task, by any means. 

Especially when it’s two weeks away and you’re still in the process of booking vendors, securing guest lists, and hiring whatever needs to be hired.

“I seriously hate you,” he snaps at Seonghwa, who just chuckles into his drink. 

“No, don’t laugh at me, Park Seonghwa. Why on earth did you propose this close to the wedding date? Did it ever occur to you that weddings are a lot of work?” Hongjoong said, playfully hitting Seonghwa on the head with his pencil.

“I know that, but can you blame me for wanting to get married as soon as possible? There’s no way in hell I’d let that running around without tying him down.” Seonghwa said with a suggestive smile, and Hongjoong had to force down a giggle. 

Seonghwa is too charming for his own good, and it reminds Hongjoong why he fell in love with him in the first place.  


\--

  
The year was 2005, and Hongjoong was waiting for his mother to pick him up from school. He was sitting on the bench near the school guard's office, which was strategically located adjacent to the area where guardians can come pick up the kids.

Hongjoong really didn’t mind waiting for his mom for god knows how long, because it’s actually fun to watch people around, and he doesn’t mind the solitude. And for a seven year old boy who doesn't appreciate loud crowds, one can really expect for Hongjoong to thrive in the comfortable solitude.

The solitude stopped being comfortable when the school grounds suddenly became too deserted, even for Hongjoong’s taste. It’s getting dark now, and the maintenance staff were preparing to close down the school grounds for the night. Hongjoong was starting to get sympathetic stares from the guard, who occasionally asks where his mother was, and why she still hasn’t shown up.

There were a lot of questions that Hongjoong would rather not ask nor answer, so he busied himself with counting the stars - a handy little trick his mother taught him whenever he feels afraid. When he’s counted enough stars for his liking, suddenly he stops being the type of alone that doesn’t feel nice... the type of alone that feels scary.

He was starting to look for the Aries constellation when somebody tapped on his shoulder. To be honest, Hongjoong felt like his soul would leap out of skin - _you just don’t randomly tap nervous kids who are waiting anxiously for their moms, no you don’t._

“Hi, you’re not a student council member, why are you still here?” A tall boy with raven hair asked Hongjoong. He didn’t even notice that a little flock of students recently emerged from, apparently, the student council office. He’s thoroughly convinced himself that he’s the only student left on campus - if he only knew that it wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t have subjected himself to needless anxiety - but that’s beside the point now.

Hongjoong just stared at the boy wordlessly, he was kinda lost in his contemplation, and still kind of shocked at this boy’s accommodating enthusiasm. He’s totally not used to being addressed like this - he’s used to being treated like he’s invisible, not that he minded that either.

“Uhhh, Hongjoong, right? Kim Hongjoong?” the boy tried again, as if determined to make this conversation work.

“H-how did you know my name?” Hongjoong finally mustered to reply.

“Oh, uhm, I’m from the class next to yours? And uhh, your name is printed on your uniform y’know.” the boy chuckled, scratching his head awkwardly.

“By the way, I’m Park Seonghwa, I’m the president of our year level. We were just about to leave, would you like to walk home with us? We wouldn’t want to leave you here all alone.”

Hongjoong weighed his choices: he doesn’t know what time his mother would show up, or at all, but at the other hand, he doesn’t necessarily know Seonghwa and his friends that well, and he was never the best at first impressions.

But at the end, he chose to walk with them, because the lights were turning off all throughout the campus, and if there’s one thing he hates more than awkward conversations, it’s being alone in the dark.

“I’m uhh, yeah sure… I live by Topaz Street? By the forked road?” Hongjoong said, nervously glancing at Seonghwa and at his friends (or councilmates?) who were patiently waiting for them while they had this very awkward exchange.

“Do they make you uncomfortable? Because I can ask them to get lost.” Seonghwa said in his efforts to help his new friend be at ease.

“Would that be okay? It’s getting dark though…” Hongjoong said timidly.

“No that’s totally okay, they’re big boys, like we are. We can fend for ourselves for a few blocks.” Seonghwa said with a dazzling smile with perfectly white teeth, not that Hongjoong was staring, of course not.

Seonghwa turned to his friends and yelled, “Hey, Yeosang! You guys go ahead, I’ll see you guys tomorrow!”

“You sure?” the brunette with a bright blue cap answered, who received a reassuring wave from Seonghwa in return.

“Yeah! Gotta make sure you miss me just this once!” Seonghwa shouted back, who just earned an eye roll and a grin from Yeosang.

And with that, Seonghwa’s friends started walking, taking the opposite route as they did. Hongjoong wondered why Seonghwa chose to go out of his way to walk him home. But he wouldn’t dare ask, because he’s just thankful to have company tonight.

“Say, Hongjoong, you never answered my question.” Seonghwa asked once the locked gates of the school were behind them.

“Oh, uhh, what question?” Hongjoong said, slightly fussing with the straps of his bag, kinda thankful actually, that he had something to occupy his hands with.

“Why... you’re still on campus after dark…?” Seonghwa reiterated for him, but he was just met by more awkward silence. Hongjoong didn’t know what to tell him, because he wasn’t sure of the answer himself.

Maybe Seonghwa understood the silence, maybe he caught on with Hongjoong’s hesitancy to answer his question, because that’s the kind of person he was, even at a very young age. He always read people’s actions and feelings quite accurately.

_Which will eventually turn out to be an irony to adult Hongjoong, but seven year old Hongjoong didn’t know that yet._

\--

That night, on the way home from school, Seonghwa and Hongjoong learned a lot of things about each other. Seonghwa learned that Hongjoong loved taking his stuff apart and transforming them into something more, and Hongjoong learned that Seonghwa finds joy in taking care of people and making them comfortable. Maybe that’s why they clicked immediately, after moving past Hongjoong’s initial awkwardness.

Ever since that first night when Seonghwa walked Hongjoong home, he decided that Seonghwa is the kind of person he can find both peace and chaos with. Seonghwa can effortlessly make him feel at ease in a sea of strangers, Seonghwa can make him feel comfortable in his own skin (which is a feat, mind you) - but Seonghwa also has this uncanny ability to make Hongjoong’s heart flip with the littlest things he does.

Seonghwa is just infuriatingly good and beautiful and precious - and now Hongjoong finds himself, fifteen years after, still disgustingly and helplessly in love with the smiling boy with raven hair that made sure he made it home safe from school.

Fifteen years have tested the mettle of Seonghwa and Hongjoong’s bond, and it seems that no matter how hard they tried, there’s just no possibility of one existing without the other.

Whenever they fought, Seonghwa always found a way to make things right, even when it wasn’t his fault to begin with. Seonghwa is infuriatingly amazing that way, and Hongjoong is seriously wondering how this man is even real.

It’s like the universe is trying to compensate Hongjoong for the seemingly lacking home he was given when he was young. Maybe his second chance for a home lies with Seonghwa, because with him, he felt like he could finally let his guard down. 

The numbness goes away whenever he’s with Seonghwa. And that made the biggest difference.

Hongjoong doesn’t know where he’d be today if it wasn’t for Seonghwa.

Seonghwa was there for every major heartbreak in his life, which unfortunately happened far more times than an average person can endure.

Hongjoong’s life was messy and scattered, but Seonghwa didn’t seem to mind every single time he had to pick up the pieces.

So through the years, it has been Seonghwa and Hongjoong - it’s difficult to imagine one without the other.

\--

Hongjoong never thought he’d live to see the actual wedding, considering the amount of stress he had to go through to make the entire thing work. He’s lost track of how many times a vendor cancelled on him, or when he had to scramble to find replacements for god knows what… But to be honest, the look on Seonghwa’s face was more than compensation for it all. He seemed to light up the entire room during the ceremony, all the way to the reception.

He looks dashing in his suit, with his hair slicked back in a beautiful style.

Hongjoong was sure that he’s never seen Seonghwa look this beautiful in the fifteen years they’ve known each other.

But there’s something in the way Seonghwa wears his happiness - the way it spills and overflows and engulfs everything around him.

It’s impossible not to love Park Seonghwa, and Hongjoong is a living evidence to that fact.

Hongjoong steps up to the simple podium, pocketing the little piece of paper where he wrote down the things he wanted to say. He wouldn’t need the cheat sheet anyway, he already knew what he wanted to say by heart.

Hongjoong wanted to thank Seonghwa for walking him home that day, and for never giving up on him since.

Hongjoong wanted to tell Seonghwa how he causes and calms the storms in his heart.

Hongjoong wanted to let Seonghwa know that he loves so much and gives so much of himself away that anywhere he looks, he can see and feel how much Seonghwa has touched his life.

Hongjoong wanted Seonghwa to know… That he wished he made it on time.

He wished that he told him how he felt.  
He wished that he confessed to Seonghwa, all those years ago, but it seemed like he was already too late before he even tried.

The brunette with the bright blue cap got there first, before he even started to fight.

While Seonghwa was there to build Hongjoong’s universe with his own two hands, he also existed in someone else’s orbit, building a future that Hongjoong can only dream of.

To be perfectly honest, Hongjoong found it a little weird, that albeit Seonghwa’s uncanny ability to read other people, he missed the glaring reality that stood right there in front of him.

Seonghwa missed all the signs. Well, the ones that mattered.

Seonghwa missed all the times when Hongjoong tried to scream and yell at the cruel universe for showing him a home that can never be his, for giving him a front row ticket to a love story he can only watch, but never experience.

So there he was, standing by the podium, at the wedding reception he planned, for the man he loved since he was seven.

There he was, willing himself to smile at the way Yeosang pulled in Seonghwa for a kiss. They’re so happy and wonderful together, that the beauty of the moment felt like a hand around Hongjoong’s throat. 

There he was, imploring whatever cosmic power that holds this universe together, to give him even a little chance to make it next time - where he wouldn’t be too late.

Because the stars couldn’t be cruel the second time around, can they?

**Author's Note:**

> please leave kudos or a comment, it’s a writer’s fuel ❤️🥺


End file.
